Smoked cheeses, an added flavor

The fire was one of the great discoveries for human life. Perhaps one of the best. Were for centuries the Indians who saw the smoke from the fires a way to communicate, but the shepherds went further and concerned about their stomachs , they realized that the smoke could smoke one of his favorite dishes : the cheese. With that getting two things : A very important is conservation and the other was to give the cheese a particular flavor . So today we wanted to present a list of what we consider the best Spanish smoked cheeses.

SAN SIMÓN DA COSTA CHEESE:

The San Simón da Costa is a cow's milk cheese made ​​in the Galician region of Terra Chá, in the province of Lugo, is identified by its smoky with a characteristic tree production area, birch. Your minimum maturity is 30 or 45 days depending on their size , which gives a smooth flavors but with great presence , accompanied by a Ribeiro area , will delight any diner . And its conical shape and bark yellow- ocher color make this cheese not we easily forget . Cheese with Designation of Origin (PDO ). It is ideal for melting cheese goes well with all kinds of meat and fish , baked or as a sauce . It is also recommended in burgers or chopped in a salad. Combines well with hazelnuts, walnuts and apples. 

IDIAZABAL CHEESE:  

                                              

The Idiazabal cheese is produced in the Basque Country and Navarra (except Roncal area ) , entirely sheep milk of Latxa and carranzana races, which despite giving little milk is of great quality. It is also a cheese with Protected Designation of Origin . There are smoked and unsmoked Idiazabal cheese.  

SMOKED CHEESE OF ROCK PELADA :

This is a smoked cheese milk cow typical Cantabria. It is manufactured by the dairy Pasiega Peña Pelada, open since 1917. This cheese , smoked with beech wood , has a mild smoke flavor that increases with the aftertaste without being too intense.  

QUESUCO OF LIÉBANA

This Cantabrian cheese situated in the Picos de Europa in the Valley of Liébana is one of the most diverse cheeses of our country and hardly find two equal quesucos. They are based on the same base but each producer adapts it to its tradition, and this cheese can be cow, sheep, goat or may be a mixture there of. It is a cheese that, like the Idiazabal, we can find smoked or unsmoked. Smoked quesucos were very typical of the port area of Áliva, so you can often hear call Quesuco smoked; "Áliva smoked". Cheese with Designation of Origin.  

OLD CHEESE SMOKED CAMPOVEJA:

In Valladolid town of Serrada this cheese , which in 2012 won the title of Best smoked cheese in the world in Nantwich , England, in the "International Cheese Awards" is made. It is a sheep cheese that after being smoked half a cure is subsequently subjected to aging in obtaining cava alongside the strength of aged cheese. 

PRÍA SMOKED CHEESE

One of the most famous cheeses of Asturias is the smoked cheese Pria , a cheese that has been producing since 1938 in the municipality of Llanes in the population of the Pesa de Pria . Their sausage is smoked over oak but perhaps the hallmark of this cheese is that it is made from cow's milk and add cream of sheep's milk.

We have to warn that currently on the market we can find smoked cheeses artificially , which are painted an orange-brown color that gives the cheese color and smoky flavor. They can be distinguished by differing natural smell and bark as natural are more uniform than those that are painted.

TECHNIQUE:

Smoking is a culinary technique that involves subjecting food to smoke from wood fires to low level of resin. This process, in addition to serving as curator smoky flavors extending the life of foods. There are two types of smoked, cold and hot. Cold, the process takes approximately 24-48 hours (depending on the food) and should not exceed 30° C. In hot, the temperature should be greater than 60° C. and not exceed what 75. It was first recommended cold smoking, then warm. This form of food preservation, comes from ancient times where it was discovered, possibly by accident, that food that hung above the stoves that were used for heating and cooking lasted longer than foods that were not in contact with the smoke. This preservation process could be compared with salted to preserve food. Basically, it takes away moisture to foods and transfers flavors.